Sampling device



G. F. slLKNlTTl-:R

SAMPLING DEVICE oct. r18, 1932.

Filed April 14, 1930 Patented Oct. 18, 1932 GEORGE YSILKNIT TER, QF SIOUX CITI, VIOWZA.

SAMPLING DEVICE Application tiled =Apri1i14,

My invention relates to the `securing of samples of oils. .and -greases .such fas @those that yare used in1the making of soaps, for 4the ipurpose oi testing :and lsampling of vsuch lproducts.

It will be understood that t-he process in Yan ordinary rendering plant `of storing greases is ,to run the .hot greases and foils romthe rendering vats into aseries of tanks 1.0 or drums vvof large capacity. Y

vrllie amount of greases .and :oils piped into a tank at one time will .ordinarily be suilicient Ato till only a small portion of the drum. The 'grease will forma layer and harden .and J- -tf'he next batch that is piped in will formv an- -other Elayer upon the previously formed layer.

The successive ilayers of greases and oils will vary laccording `to the nature and quality kof the particular batchof grease. Thus there 2o will 'be produced inleach .tank a succession of layers fof greases and .oils .oijvarying quality.

When :a tanker-grease is sold by a rendering plant to -a soap manufacturing company .25 or to any conce-1n which uses rendered fats, the `purchaser requires a testt-obe made-of the lcontents yof the tank. This is -wordinarily accomplished by 'opening ,a 'series of petcocks disposed at varying levels in the itank, heat- .30 ing the grease wi-thlin vthe tank and allowing a portion of the contents to Aflow from each petcock. 'The lieating'gprocess is necessary in order to render 4the Agrease lfluid enough so that it will flow from the petcocks. This 35 heating operation takes considerable time .and is qui-te expensive since a large lpropor- -tionvofgthe contents of the tank niustbe heated in order =to `obtain drainage `from the petcocks. Y

40 'invention has fori-its object to yprovide a device adapted -to secure -a sample vof `the contents of a tank in a minimum period o -ti-mewith a minimum amount of difficulty.

Another ebiect -o my invention is to pro 5 vide a devi-oe which will procure a sample of :the grease, obtaining equal quantities fromi each Ilevel inthe tank. In this connection itV may be said that lthe present process vis very :inaccurate because .of 4the .difiicullty of lobtainsc fing the sameiow from each petcock.

1930. Serial No. 444,322.

A-further obj ectof 4my invention is to provide `a device which will secure a sample of .the .entire cross sectionaldepth of the tank. The presen-tmethod will not do this vbeca-use oit -the impracticability ot placing petcocks close enough together to produce the result.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device which will not, injure the greases inthe heating process.

With these randrotfher `vobjects in view., vmy "lo invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of fthe various parts .of my device, whereby the objects contemplated Iare attained, `as hereinafter :more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and @g5 illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which.: f

Fig. 1 is a'sectional view through the sampling mechanism.V f l Fig. '2 fis a sectional view through lthesam-grt l pling mechanism. o Fig. 8 is a sidefelevat'ion of the upper por- .tionthereoi and Y F ig. 4 is a transverse, sectional `view ith-rough the sampling mechanism. v- '415 In the ,accompanying drawing,` an ordinary grease storage tank or drum is shown at 10, the top wall 11 thereof being provided with ari-.opening 12, which :is closed by a hinge cover 13. The various levels of greases '80 are indicated roughly at 14 in Fig. 1. MyA invention is comprised in a permanent installation 'including a casing 15, closed at its lower endfas by means eta cap 16 and suitably :supported in some manner Within the tank 85 10 vas by means of a 4base plate 17, :attached to the caplG or forming part thereof and riveted or bolted lto the bottom wall of 4the tank 10.. It will be understood that any 'means orsupporting the casing'l' in van up! right 4position within the tank might be employed.

. The parts whichremain permanently within the tank are shown in Fig. 3 and connections areV adapted to be made Vto these parts 95 kfrom theoutside as shown in Fig. 1 when the sampling process is to :be .carried out.

Within .the casing 15, which is cylindrical, being preferably constructed of piping or tubing 1of diameter ranging Jfrom threeinches 'i isi handle 19, by means of which it may be roupwardly, is a cylindrical sleeve 18 of smaller tubing litt-ing snugly within the casing 15.

The sleeve 18 is rotatable within the casing 15 and is provided at its upper end with a tated.

A finger 2O is secured to the sleeve 18 and projects over the edge of the casing 15 to engage a lug 21 on the casing 15. The linger 20 may be formed on a ring 22 by means of which the handle 19 is secured VtoV the sleeve 18.

The casing 15 and sleeve 18 are provided each with a series of spaced holes, one of which is numbered 23 and the other 211. The holes 23 and 24 are adapted to register when the finger 20 is in contact with the lug 21.

A steam coil 25 extends into the space within the sleeve 18 and the ends 26 and 27 thereof are provided with suitable connections 28 for attachment to steam lines 29 and 30 as shown in Fig. 1. The steam lines29 and 30 include valves 31 for controlling the liow of steam to the coil 25. Y

A pipe 32 is extended into the space within the sleeve 18 that is not occupied by the coil 25. Various methods of arranging the coil 25 and pipe 32 might be employed although the simplest is to provide the coil 25 in the form of two parallel lengths of tubing connected at their lower ends by an elbow 33, the pipe 32 being disposed centrally between the two lengths of tubing ofthe coil 25. V

The pipe 32 is terminated atak distance from the bottom of the cap 16 so that grease may flow into the lower end of the pipe.

The upper end of the pipe 32 is provided with a connection 36 to which may be attached a tube 37 leading to a suction pump. The pump is not shown but any conventional design of suction pump adapted to lift the melted greasefrom the sleeve, 18 may be employed. v

In operation, the device functions as follows: The handle 19 is left normally in a position where the openings 23 and 211 register, whereby as the grease is delivered into the tank 10 from the rendering plant it may lill the sleeve 18 to substantially the same level as in the tank. Successive layers of grease will thus settle and harden within the sleeve 18 and when the tank is full and it is desired to sample the grease, the door 13 is opened, the steam pipes 29 and 30 are attached to the coil 25 and steam is allowed to flow through the coil until the grease within the sleeve 18 has been brought to a fluid state. Thus it is not necessary to heat the grease within the tank.

Before the grease is to be pumped out of ing and only the grease standing within the sleeve 18 may be pumped out.

Thus a true cross section of the contents ofthe tank is obtained in the sample which is pumped out. The pipe 37 is attached to the pipe 32 preliminary to the pumping operation; the contents are pumped from the sleeve 18; the pum is then detached and the steam lines and t e door 18 may then be again closed.

' An alternate method of operation 1s to leave the casing closed against the inflow of grease until it is desired to sample the contents of the tank andv to then heat the grease surrounding the casing by means of the steam coil25, the heating process being carried out until a sufficient quantity of', grease has been `melted to insure the filling of the sleeve 18.

The handle 19 may then be turned to open the casing and allow the grease to flow into the sleeve. Y

It will be seen that my invention provides a permanent installation which does not interfere with the opening and closing of the door 13. Furthermore my invention makes it possible to employ steam heat for heating the contents of the tank.

. A primary advantage residing in my invention is in the uniform sampling which is obtained by allowing the fluid grease .to

. flow into the sampling device through a series of very closely spaced openings whereby a true cross section of vcontents is obtained. An equally important advantage of my 1nvention resides in the rapidity with jwhich* thesampling may be done where only a small portion of the grease need be melted and wherein means for uniformly and simultaneously heatingy this small portion from top to bottom of the tank is provided.

- Another important advantage of my invention resides in the fact that the grease has to iiow only through the two thin walls of a pair oftubes a much shorter distance than it is required to flow through a petcock.

The time which is required in order to obtain a sample by meansV of my invention lis only a fraction of that required by former methods.

l claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a grease storagetank ,having an opening in its upper wall normally closed by a cover, a sampling device comprising a tubular casing secured within the tank in an upstanding position with its upper end vnearer the said opening, a plurality of openings in the wall of the casing in vertically spaced succession, means for opening and closing said openings, a pipe communicating with the sp ace within the casing at the lower extremity thereof for pumping off the contents of the casing anda steam coil arranged in conjunction with the casing, the upper ends of the coil and pipe being positioned near said opening andadapted to be attached to steam pipes and a pumping tube, respectively, extended through said tan opening.

2. In combination with a grease storage tank having an opening in its upper Wall normally closed by a cover, a sampling device comprising a tubular casing secured Within the tank in an upstanding position with its upper end near the said opening, a plurality of openings in the wall of the casing in vertically spaced succession, means for opening and closing said openings, a pipe communicating with the space Within the casing at the lower extremity thereof for pumping off the contents of the casing, the upper end of the pipe being positioned near said opening and adapted to be attached to a pumping tube extended through said opening.

3. In combination with a grease storage tank having an opening in itsupper Wall normally closed by a cover, a sampling device comprising a tubular casing secured Within the tank in an upstanding position with its upper end near the said opening, a plural? ity of openings in the Wall of the casing in vertically spaced succession, means for opening and closing said openings, a steam coil arranged in conjunction with the casing, the upper ends thereof being positioned near said opening and adapted to be attached to steam pipesextending through said opening.

4. In combination with a grease storage tank having an opening in its upper Wall normally closed by a cover, a sampling device comprising a tubular casing secured Within the tank in an upstanding position with its upper end near the said opening, a plurality of openings in the Wall of the casing in vertically spaced succession, means for opening and closing said openings, a steam coil arranged in conjunction With the casing, the upper ends thereof being positioned near said opening, steam pipes extending above said tank near said opening, and detachable connections between the steam pipe and the steam coil, extending through said opening.

Signed this 3rd day of April, 1930, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa.

GEORGE F. SILKNITTER. 

